Healthcare Trend: More Doctors Selling Their Practices

[1]Across the country, doctors are selling their private practices[2] to hospitals in an effort to escape from rising cost, struggles of filing insurance claims, and collecting payments from patients.

The number of doctors who have sold their practices to hospitals has gone up 30% to 40% in the last five years. Doctors who sell their practices to hospitals usually end up as employees for those hospitals, reports CNN.

Hospitals buying private practices was a common trend in the early 90′s. The addition of the private practices acted as a quick way to get new patients. With more parts of Obamacare going into effect, hospitals are again buying up private practices to increase their market shares, reports CNN.

Doctors who become hospital employees enjoy the benefits of a steady salary, and can better focus on practicing medicine and caring for patients.

“We wouldn’t go back,” Dr. Michael Mirro of Fort Wayne, Ind., told The New York Times[3]. “now that we’ve seen the value of improved patient care and improved communication with primary care physicians.”